Personal musings on the rise (and further rise) of @PokemonGoApp, one of the most successful mobile games of all time.
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After breaking download records during its launch back in July 2016, you might think that interest in @PokemonGoApp had died off. But you'd be wrong. With user and revenue up almost 2x YoY, the app recently broke $2B in total revenue in only 811 days, the 3rd fastest time ever.
What's most surprising is the huge success when the gameplay is actually boring. There's no skill involved in the gameplay. But then again @PokemonGoApp isn't a game; it's a collectible. A sibling of baseball cards, stamps, or coins.
3 product decisions played crucial roles in @PokemonGoApp's success. First, building on top of the Pokemon franchise provided a shared history, shared culture, and shared values that made users care about what they were collecting.
Second, @PokemonGoApp is not an augmented reality app but rather a location app. And they've leveraged location brilliantly to simplify their user experience, provide stronger social signals, and create constant reminders triggered by real world landmarks.
Finally, @PokemonGoApp deliberately slowed the pace of their game because friction in collecting actually made you appreciate what you've caught even more. And the slow play created a level playing field so that novices and experts alike could both have maximum enjoyment.
